Railway-tie.



No. 692,264. Patanted Fab.4, I902.

m .1. u. GLEASON.

RAILWAY TIE.

(Application filed (m. as. 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheot I.

INvENTuR gwpw BY W ATTORNEYS,

N0. 692,264. Patented Feb. 4, I902.

J. H. GLEASON.

RAILWAY TIE.

. (Application filed on. as, 1901;,

2 'Sheets-Sheel 2.

(No Mocl l.)

WITNEBSE'B INVE I TOR Z #1.

BY a/M RTTQR N 5Y5.

UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. GLEASON, OF TROY, NEV YORK.

RAILWAY-Tl E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 692,264, dated February 4, 1902.

Application filed October 23, 1901. Serial No. 79,684. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. GLEASON, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of Troy, county of Reusselaer, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Ties, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railwayties for the support of the rails in railroad-beds; and the object of myinvention is to produce railwayties made from cement, sand, and stone or like materials which when set in the ground or in the railroad-bed will last for a long time and will retain the rails in the position desired without the spikes holding the rails down becoming loose or working out, as in the wooden ties now in .use. I attain this object by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of railway-rails and my ties in position. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a single tie-block somewhat enlarged. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of Y Y, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of X X, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail view of spikes to hold the rails in position. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the tieblock and rail in position, showing the spikes and tie-rod in use. Fig. 7 is a view of a tierod. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a modified form of the tie-blook, showing oblong slots for spikes and wedges. Fig. 9 is a sectional view at Z Z, Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a front and side elevation of a spike and wedge for holding the rail down upon the tie-block, 1 being aside elevation of a spike, 2 a front elevation of the same, and 3 a wedge. Fig. 11 is a plan view, front elevation, of a spring to hold the rail firm. Fig. 12 is a plan view of a modified form of my tie-block, showing means for holding the rails in position without the use of spikes. Fig. 13 is a front elevation of the same, and Fig. 14 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 15 is a plan View of still another means of holding the rails in position without spikes, and Fig. 16 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 17 is a modified form of spike and wedge for holding the rail down upon the tie-block.

A A are railway-rails.

B B are tie-blocks made from cement, sand, and stone by molding or casting the same in suitable form and placed under the rail to sustain it.

C O are double tie-blocks used to support the adjoining ends of two rails where they come together upon the same tie-block.

The tie-blocks are molded or cast from cement, sand,and stone or similar materials,and the holes D D are cast in the tie-blocks for the reception of the spikes used to hold the rail down.

E Eare projections cast upon the tie-blocks, between which the rails rest and which prevent the rails spreading or moving sidewise.

Fis a tie-rod with ends bent at about right angles, as shown in Fig.7, to form hooks or to connect two tie-blocks, as shown in Fig. 1.

The tie-blocks are designed simply to rest under the rails and sustain the weight. Two tie-blocks connected together by a tie-rod F constitute one railway-tie. The blocks are provided with a depression and hole G,which hole is preferably made to come under the center of the rail and suitable to receive the hook end of the tie-rod F, so that when the tie-blocks are placed in position, as shown in Fig. 1, one end of the tie-rod F is insertedin the hole G in one block and the other end of the tie-rod F is inserted in a corresponding hole in the opposite block. Then the rails are laid upon the blocks over the ends of the tie-rod, thus holding the tie-rod firmly in place and the tie-rod preventing the-blocks from spreading or moving endwise in either direction. The tierod is let down into the depression in the tie-block from the hole G to the side of the block, so that the top of the rod will not be above the top of the block, as shown-in Figs. 1, 3, and 6. The holes D in the tieblocks are preferably cast larger at the bottom than at the top. The spikes H are substantiallyin the form usually used on railways; but preferably the lower end is larger, corresponding with the enlargement of the holes D. r

In Fig. 5, a, shows the front elevation of a spike, and b shows the side elevation of a spike, with the lower end enlarged, as stated. When the rail is laid in position upon the tieblock,over the end of the tie-rod F,the spikes H are inserted in the holes, with the projections it extending over the flange of the rail, as shown in Fig. 6, in the same position as the spikes are now driven in the wooden ties. When the spike H is inserted in the hole D and arranged in proper position in reference to the rail, the hole D around the spike H is filled up with liquid cement, which will harden, and so become a part of the block itself and hold the spike so securely that it can never be moved without cutting or breaking it off.

The spikes H may be made in the form shown in Fig. 10, having a flange extending backward on its lower end, as c of Fig. 10, in which case the tie-block is made, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, with the holes D oblong and a recess in the bottom of the hole corresponding with the flange c on the bottom of the spike, in which case the spike is inserted in the holes D and turned so that the top flange of the spike will bein positionover the flange of the rail and the bottom flange will fit in the recess (1 of the hole D, Fig. 9. When used in this way, the spike may be held in position bya wedge, as shown in Fig. 10 and there designated as 3, which may be readily removed and the spike removed in taking up the rail more readily than. when the spike is cemented in the hole, as above stated, or the spike and wedge may bemade in the form shown in Fig. 17.

The rails do not necessarily fit exactly between the projections E E on the tie-blocks. In practice it is best to allow for slight play of the rail between the projections E E. This play, however, may be taken up by a spring, as shown in Fig. 11, which may be of any desired form, but as here shown is made of heavy spring-steel, with ends to hook around two spikes in the tie-block and pressed against the rail to hold it firmly against the opposite projections upon the tie-block. In practice also it is not necessary to have the spikes pressed firmly against the flange of the rail; but a slight space should be left between the spike and rail to allow for expansion andvibration, as shown in Fig. 6. When used upon street-railways where the streets are paved with a concrete foundation, the tie-blocks may be embedded in the concrete and will thus form a solid support for the rails, which will last for ages. \Vhen made in this way,

the railway-tie would be indestructible, and the spikes when cemented into the tie-blocks would hold the rails until the rails were worn out and would constitute a great saving in the repairs and replacing of the ties themselves and keeping men constantly engaged in watching for spikes becoming loose and coming out of the wooden ties, as is now the case.

If desired, the tie-block may be made to be used without spikes, as shown in Figs. 13 to 16. When. made in this way, the shoulders O O are molded upon the sides of the tieblock, or bars of iron may be embedded in the blocks extending out at the sides, so as to form shoulders, as shown, and the rails held securely on the tie-blocks by clasps or spring-bars P P passing under the shoulders and hooking onto the flanges of the rails, as shown in Figs. 14 and 16. The shoulders may be provided with springs X X, Fig. 13, to hold the connecting clasps or hooks firmly down on the flanges of the rail, or the clasps themselves may be made of spring-steel, so as to be sprung into position and hold the rail firmly by their own resiliency, as shown in Fig. 16.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railway-tie, a block composed of cement, sand and stone or similar materials, adapted to support a railway-rail, projections upon said block adapted to prevent the rail from moving sidewise; holes in said block adapted for the reception of spikes suitable to hold the 'rail down upon said block, and spikes cemented in said holes, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

2. A railway-tie consisting of two tie-blocks, composed of concrete or similar material, adapted to support railway-rails; projections upon said blocks adapted to prevent the rails from moving sidewise; holes in said blocks adapted to receive railroad spikes; spikes with lower ends adapted to fit in said holes and the upper ends to project over the flanges of the rails; and a tie-rod adapted to connect the two tie-blocks when in position, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

3. A tie-block made from a composition of cement, sand and stone, suitably adapted for the support of a railway-rail, and having projections arranged and adapted to allow the rail to rest between them; and means to retain the rail in position upon said tie-block, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

Signed at Albany, New York, this 4th day of October, 1901.

JOHN H. GLEASON.

\Vitnesses:

THOMAS F. POWERS, WALTER E. WARD. 

